The Bordeaux-Toulouse high-speed rail line is "irreversible," assures Lecornu; local elected officials are satisfied but vigilant.

"This project is now irreversible and therefore its irreversibility is obviously reflected in the initial sums of money, almost 500 million euros, which will be released to allow the tendering procedures to be launched," he said regarding this line which is to connect Bordeaux to Toulouse, then to Dax.

His speech was eagerly awaited by local elected officials, who had been repeating their concern in recent months that the State would withdraw from this important infrastructure project in which its participation was initially supposed to amount to 40% of the budget, in line with the contribution of the local authorities, with the European Union providing the additional 20%.

Citing the obstacles faced by the government, such as the lack of a majority in the National Assembly, budgetary difficulties and the "little time remaining until the end of the five-year term", he nevertheless deemed it "unthinkable" to "not make progress" on certain issues such as the military, energy or "transportation issues", which are "equally important".

One month to "decide"

Supporters of the high-speed rail line have been mobilizing for several months against the hypothesis, mentioned in a report by the Infrastructure Advisory Council (COI), of resorting to a public-private partnership to finance this project in a complicated budgetary context.

When questioned on this subject on Thursday, Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot indicated that "nothing has been definitively decided." "We have given ourselves another month to discuss these various issues together, so that we can reach a decision with the local authorities," he continued.

"More than a montage today, what was important was the announcement that has just been made by the Prime Minister and the irreversibility of the project. As for the rest, regarding the timetable...", he added.

In its report, revealed by the news site Contexte, the COI, an advisory body composed of experts and parliamentarians, considers it "likely" that the cost of the LGV Sud-Ouest, estimated at 14 billion euros in 2020, will be re-evaluated by "+20% approximately".

He also believes that the commissioning schedule for the two lines, planned for 2032 and 2034, should be revised to 2035 for the link with Toulouse, and 2042 for Bordeaux-Dax.

Mr. Lecornu's visit was also an opportunity to reiterate the government's intention to increase the performance contract with SNCF to 4,5 billion euros, compared to 3 billion so far, thus allowing, according to Mr. Tabarot, for 750 to 1.000 kilometers of lines to be renovated each year.

The Minister of Transport wanted to see this as "proof that France is still a country of great projects" and "also a country that takes care of its infrastructure".

Vigilance

Alongside these announcements, the Socialist president of the Occitanie region, Carole Delga, indicated that she "approved the approach" of signing such a memorandum of understanding aimed at committing 500.000 euros so that the calls for tenders concerning some 12 billion euros of work are "properly launched in 2026".

"Thank you for ensuring that these two pages are followed by action," she had said earlier to Sébastien Lecornu, before her counterpart in the Haute-Garonne department, Sébastien Vincini, redoubled his vigilance: "We must go all the way."

As a sign of the importance of the matter, Mr. Lecornu was accompanied in Toulouse by his Minister of Transport, Philippe Tabarot, the Minister of Territorial Development, Françoise Gatel, the Minister of Public Accounts, David Amiel, as well as the head of the SNCF, one of his predecessors at Matignon, Jean Castex.

In a letter sent Wednesday, opponents of the high-speed rail line requested a meeting with Sébastien Lecornu. In a press release, they stated that the project is "in blatant contradiction with all of France's environmental commitments and obligations" and called for its replacement with "the regeneration and modernization of existing lines."